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17th August 2022 (X)
Cynthia stood in the parking, her body shivering due to the cold. Even with Cassian's jacket, she still felt like a naked mole rat trapped in a freezer. Her mind was occupied with too many thoughts, making her brain pound against her skull.
Two years ago, her best friend who she had known since 1st grade had mysteriously disappeared without a word. She had at first thought Cassian needed some time off to cope with the death of his father but days turned to weeks, weeks turned to months and months had turned into two long years. After two weeks since the funeral, she thought something wasn't right so she visited his home to find it wiped clean of everything. She went to his workplace only to find out he had resigned. All his social media was gone, his number was no longer in service and she even went as far as filing a police report. But the report came back saying that no such person ever existed.
It was as if, Cynthia had imagined him all this while.
For that, she mildly resented him. How could he so selfishly abandon her and disappear? She understood that everyone had different ways of coping with loss but Cynthia wished that he would have at least included her in his life. He could have depended on her or talked to her about what he was going through. Cynthia had always thought that secrets never existed between the two of them, so what secret was he hiding now?
Cynthia knew he was hiding something and that something wasn't something good. She saw the way his face panicked when she mentioned the representative sleeping next door. She also noticed the scar that was etched onto his alluring face. The faint scar that went from the bottom of his eyebrow down his left eye and ended at his bottom lashes. Most of all, she heard the voice talking to Cassian through his earpiece.
Hey, Cas, have you entered the target's room? If so, then why are you not appearing on my monitor? I can only see Hamill but you aren't there.
Target? Monitor?
Why is Cassian targeting a random representative from her company? Who is the person monitoring him and for how long have they been monitoring him? Has Cassian joined some kind of illegal trafficking organisation? That would explain his sudden disappearance.
No, Cynthia thought, Cassian is no such person.
A cold breeze brushed past her cheeks, reminding her that she was still standing in a basement parking space in nothing but a black leather jacket and a lace nightgown. Cynthia looked at the keys in her hand and examined the smooth black cover with red sidelines surrounding the three buttons under the silver snake logo of the car. A Serpent is one of the top sedan car companies that took over the car industry a few years ago. Since when was Cassian able to afford a Serpent? Besides the bigger problem is, how is she going to know which Serpent in this car park was Cassian's Serpent?
Cynthia began walking, her bare feet wincing against the cold stone flooring. She examined the whole ocean of blacks, greys and whites; hoping to find something that feels right. She could try pointing the key to every Serpent she sees and get in the one she can unlock but unfortunately, the security system is programmed in a way where too many wrong clicks on the button can lock the car key itself. She had to be careful with the number of times she pressed on the key.
She kept walking until she halted in front of a lone Serpent that was parked far away from the rest of the vehicles. Raven black coating with thin vermillion lines that run along the edges of the door frame. The sight that captivated Cynthia the most was the hood ornament: a midnight black dragon with topaz red eyes. Cynthia pointed the keys towards the car and pressed the unlock button.
Beep Beep!
"So, you found my car after all."
Cynthia spun around and there he was, leaning against a pillar with an irritating smirk on his face. Again, she didn't hear him and it annoyed her how she couldn't detect his presence.
"You were here the whole time?" Cynthia asked.
"Not the whole time but long enough to see you admire Scarlette," Cassian pushed off the pillar and walked towards, "It's Serpent's latest release. The Scarlette 40X."
Cassian took the keys from Cynthia and walked towards the driver, "Are you going to get in or are you just going to stand there in the cold?"
"I want to go back to my room," Cynthia replied firmly.
"Well I wanted a flying pony but we don't always get what we want, do we?" Cassian got into the car and the engine roared to life, "Come on Cynthie, now is not the time to be stubborn. I promise to take you back but right now, we need to get out of here."
When Cassian saw that Cynthia wasn't going to budge, he blew out a sigh, "Look, I know you have a million questions and I'll be honest, I can't answer all of them. At least, not yet. But I am going to need you to trust me right now. Do you trust me, Cynthie?"
Do I trust him? Cynthia asked herself, even after he ditched me for two years and is possibly involved in some illegal mafia drug business?
Cynthia got into the seat next to the driver and slammed the car door shut, "Don't make me regret this."
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